Planning on trying a little fall fishing for the first time and will be meeting my daughter in Townsend MA this Saturday, trying either the Squannacook or Nissitissit.

Is it safe to assume only deep pockets are worth trying at this time of year?

Any suggestions as to the type of flies to try?

Any help you can give a couple of rookies will be most appreciated.

Thanks!
Ralph

BigDave

10-31-2002, 03:36 PM

Ralph,

You will be pleased to know that both rivers contain plenty of fish. Observe weather they are high or low in the water column and you should do fine (small caddis and midges hatching this time of year). You will probably see some fish rising.

Dont be afriad to throw a big streamer or glo-bug at them. Dead-drifting is key.

Good luck,

BigDave :devil:

John Desjardins

11-01-2002, 08:34 AM

The Squanny is low enough to wade very easily & pick up lures from springtime snags. An olive or black woolybugger in size 10-12 would be a good starting point if you want to use a streamer. Dave's suggestions on a midge or small caddis are good if the fish are on top. Wish I could make it out there. Family things keep piling up.

Remember its hunting season and that you should have some orange on if your in a WMA on any day other than Sunday.

FlyMan

11-03-2002, 06:22 PM

Well, we fished the Squannacook last Saturday, unfortunately with no luck on hook-ups. We neither saw anything hatching, nor anything rising.

Between the two of us, we tried black and green wooly buggers, bead head prince, lightning bugs and a few others at various depths.

Water temp was 40 degrees. My daughter will say it was colder, as she experienced her first dunking after slipping on a rock. Had to go back to the car and dry a few things out while we enjoyed lunch. Gotta love her though! After she dried out, we went back in at another location. I love her spirit.

I sure would like to hook up with a fishing partner with a little more experience than we have that is willing to share their skill. Thanks to everyone for their responses to my posts.

juro

11-07-2002, 07:27 AM

I live very nearby but have been out of town. Let me know if you are going to try it again; I might be able to meet up in the area to at least get you going.

Last time I hit the Nissitissit in November I caught two very nice fish in short order. I would suggest a rig that Bob Desplaines showed me using a dry and nymph dropper together. I used a small elk caddis and dropped a biot nymph using a pc of flourocarbon tied to the bend of the dry with a uniknot. I started at the North Rd. bridge and worked upstream but there are other walk-ins.

Not sure how old your daughter is but if she is younger Willard Brook can be a fun place for younger anglers and it's right up the road. When I was younger they stocked the stream and basin and you could fish stream and stillwater in the same morning.

As John stated, the problem in these streams is lack of water right now. B-o-n-e-y.

If stillwater's ok for you, that's the way to go until the streams fill up. If she's older you can't beat float-tubing or fishing from a canoe in Walden or White's on a calm fall day.

If you really want to hook up, I would suggest going to Mirror Lake in Fort Devens which is also in the area. A canoe or float tube would be best, but you can do well wading from shore.